A trial court's modification of a settlement agreement between several states and tobacco companies that would save Pennsylvania about $126 million has been upheld by the Commonwealth Court.

A five-member en banc panel of the court April 10 unanimously affirmed a trial court's determination that an arbitration panel had exceeded its authority when it allowed several states and tobacco companies to enter into a partial settlement modifying the requirements of a master settlement in which the companies agreed to pay the states billions of dollars.

The Commonwealth Court's ruling in Commonwealth v. Philip Morris USA affirmed the trial court's decision invalidating the partial settlement and the trial court's modification of the partial settlement, which reduced Pennsylvania's financial burden from $242 million to $116 million.